Chapter 35

Xu Zaijing naturally had vaguely heard Sun Shi talk about the Gu family's affairs.

These days, Gu Yankai had secretly changed the blood-tonifying medicine sent by the Qin family.

It hadn't been very long.

But!

Gu Tingyu at this age was originally at the time when his vitality was most exuberant.

Without the negative effect given to him by the Qin family,

and with the positive effect of the tonic, plus his own age,

Gu Tingyu's body had improved.

Naturally gifted and intelligent, he naturally didn't know that it was his stepmother who reminded Gu Yankai to change the tonic.

He was just curious in his heart why his body felt so comfortable during this period.

Even the faint feeling of suppression in his chest from before had disappeared without a trace.

Although his complexion didn't look good, it had lost the previous withered yellow color.

Before, he would easily catch a cold as soon as he went out, which made him exhausted.

Now his energy was slowly becoming abundant, and being cooped up at home every day made him feel a bit irritable.

Plus the doubt about his body's improvement, it made his brows furrow even more.

Even when practicing calligraphy, he couldn't stabilize his state of mind.

Just hearing his younger brother pestering to go to the Xu family to play, Gu Tingyu's heart stirred, and he came to this Xu family together.

Xu Zaijing looked at Gu Tingyu in the room, and he was somewhat different from the television series.

Gu Tingyu resembled his mother and was a handsome man with a feminine appearance.

But his eyebrows, like Gu Tingye's, were inherited from his father and were sword-like eyebrows.

This gave him a heroic spirit different from his feminine appearance.

And Gu Tingyu also saw this third legitimate son of the Xu family who came later.

He had seen Xu Zaijing's archery performance at the Emperor's birthday banquet and was very envious in his heart; after all, it was truly handsome.

Xu Zaijing's heart stirred.

"Eldest brother, Brother Yu and Brother Ye have come to our prefecture to play; why don't we go to the racecourse to play, and we can also go fishing by the pond."

Gu Tingye's eyes lit up instantly upon hearing this.

Gu Tingyu was also moved.

Xu Zaiduan agreed upon seeing this; he also didn't want to be confined in this study.

He ordered the servants, and soon fishing gear was sent to the racecourse.

Xu Zaijing and the others walked over; Gu Tingyu looked at this Marquis Prefecture and secretly thought that these years, it had indeed declined somewhat.

Walking along this way, many of the carvings and floral decorations had not been repainted, and the wood on the window lattices was also slightly worn, having not been repainted for a long time.

Then he saw the Xu family's racecourse.

Hiss, Gu Tingyu was also shocked by this large area.

The Marquis Lady Ningyuan Prefecture also had a racecourse, but it was only half this size.

The Marquis Xiangyang Prefecture had been prominent all these years, but Gu Tingyu rarely went out and had never seen it.

That fine horse bestowed by the Emperor was running around happily in the racecourse, occasionally going to the groom to interact intimately.

Gu Tingye's eyes shone.

"Jingge'er, your horse has a foal; give me one, okay?"

"Easy to say, easy to say."

Xu Zaijing said vaguely.

The group came to the pond; servants had long since placed stools and fishing gear, and the kitchen had also prepared bait and placed it on the side.

This pond was not large, but fish fry had been placed in it, and it could be considered a pastime when guests came to play.

At this time, the sun was not big, and under the trees, it was neither cold nor hot; a breeze blew, causing the leaves on the trees to rustle.

Gu Tingyu closed his eyes quite enjoyably.

Xu Zaizhang on the side shouted loudly,

"Brother Yu, Brother Yu, your fishing float moved."

Gu Tingyu opened his eyes, calculated in his heart, and did not immediately lift the rod; after a moment, he lifted the rod, and a half-foot-long fish was pulled out.

Having a harvest from fishing seemed to be a joy engraved in a man's heart.

The five people fished for a while longer, but except for Xu Zaijing, there were no more harvests.

Gu Tingye naturally felt it was boring and suggested going to shoot arrows.

Gu Tingyu thought of Xu Zaijing's performance and also wanted to test his own strength.

Since the guests had an idea, naturally the servants hurriedly went to prepare.

The groom grabbed his nephew Qingyun and told him to find those hunting bows that were not very powerful, otherwise he was afraid the other four would not be able to pull them.

Xu Zaiduan and Xu Zaizhang had long been accustomed to their younger brother's great strength.

After playing with bows and arrows for a while, the group's arms were sore and unbearable.

Gu Tingyu looked at Xu Zaijing with eyes full of admiration.

"Jingge'er, you can actually draw the bow so many times in a row; I admire you, I admire you."

"It's just practicing a lot; Brother Yu, you flatter me."

Taking advantage of the fact that the sky was still bright,

the five people played pitch-pot in the courtyard.

Although Xu Zaijing's archery was outstanding, he had to give Gu Tingye praise for pitch-pot.

This guy seemed to have used all his energy on pitch-pot.

It was only Xu Zaijing who could compete with him a little; the other three were simply no match.

Near dinner time, Gu Tingyu took Gu Tingye, who hadn't played enough, back to the Marquis Lady Ningyuan Prefecture.

The brows that were furrowed when he first arrived had relaxed a lot.

Sending off the Gu family.

Xu Zaijing hadn't entered the door yet when he saw the palace sedan chair turn over from the street corner.

Ordering Qingyun to tell his mother, Xu Zaijing stood at the door with his brothers to welcome the angel.

After Sun Shi came out, Xu Zaijing learned the reason for the matter.

It turned out that the Empress had given birth to an imperial prince.

Last year, there were three concubines in the palace who were pregnant, but by this year, only the Empress had given birth to an imperial prince.

Among the other two concubines was the Emperor's favorite, Consort Rong, who also had a miscarriage and could not save the child.

Therefore, the Empress invited Sun Shi to the palace, hoping for a good omen.

After all, in the Empress's view, whether it was Qi Heng from Princess Pingning's family, or Madam Wu who had a second child after giving birth to the eldest legitimate son.

They all had a good relationship with the Xu family.

Xu Zaijing's halo seemed to still be working.

Sun Shi received the imperial decree, and after expressing gratitude, the angel returned to the palace.

The Emperor's reward was also carried in.

This Emperor of the Great Zhou had difficulty with offspring; he once had seven children, with different birth mothers, but they had all died prematurely.

This was the Empress's fourth child.

Xu Zaijing had already been in this world for six or seven years.

The only thing he could do was to let Madam Bai avoid the calamity of childbirth through his own efforts.

Let Gu Tingye not lose his biological mother.

Indirectly preventing the green tea master, Little Madam Qin, from entering the Marquis Prefecture.

This imperial prince should be the thunder in the court that Sheng Hong encountered when he entered the capital for the first time to attend the morning court.

Neither the television series nor the novel said how this child died.

Xu Zaijing also dared not speculate presumptuously.

Early the next morning, Sun Shi got up, dressed, and took Xu Zaijing into the palace.

In the Empress's palace, Princess Pingning also brought her son Qi Heng into the palace.

When Princess Pingning was raised before the Empress, she was only about the same age as Xu Zaijing.

In the blink of an eye, she had a son.

The Empress's spirit was quite good, wearing a gorgeous golden forehead ornament, talking with several imperial relatives of the Cao family from behind a screen.

Hearing that Xu Zaijing had arrived in the palace, she specifically ordered the female official to invite Xu Zaijing behind the screen.

Seeing the healthy and sturdy Xu Zaijing, her eyes were full of love, and she beckoned for Xu Zaijing to come over.

She asked some questions about what he did on weekdays, what he liked to eat, etc., and also asked the female official to move an embroidered stool for Xu Zaijing to sit on the side.

In Xu Zaijing's view, although this Empress was already middle-aged, she still had a dazzling demeanor.

Moreover, this Empress liked simplicity, and the whole person looked like she was only about thirty.

(End of chapter)